Return to the Digital World 3: Under Suspicion
by SeaSpectre160
Summary: One new Warrior's disappearance causes trouble in the Real World, and she and a fellow newbie have to make some desicions that may affect the outcome of the mission.
1. Prologue

**Wow, I can't believe it's been almost a year since I last updated on this series! For some reason, this just hasn't been as popular as my other works. Oh well, that won't stop me from posting!**

**Just a recap: It's 5 years after Digimon Frontier and trouble is starting up in the Digital World again. Takuya, Kouji, Tomoki, Izumi, Junpei, and Kouichi are called back into action, along with four new teammates - Kyousuke, Lexi, Juan, and Takuya's brother Shinya. But last time, Lexi decided to quit. When she was dragged along on one last mission, she discovered one of her Spirits, and became so confused as to whether or not she wanted to be part of it all, she ran off on her own in the Digital World! What will happen to her?**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Digimon or any of its characters.**

**CLAIMER: I own Kyousuke, Juan, and Lexi.**

* * *

_Brrrring! Brrrring! Brrr-_

"Hello?" Kanbara Shinya answered. It was an early Tuesday afternoon, and he and his brother had just gotten home from school. Takuya had locked himself in his room, claiming he had a lot of homework and didn't want to be disturbed, but Shinya had it on good authority he was really taking a nap. It wasn't like they didn't have anything to be worried about; one of their new friends – despite the fact that Lexi Walsh didn't want anything to do with them – was missing somewhere in another dimension, and they had no idea what to do about it.

Most of their team wanted to go and bring her back, but Minamoto Kouji, the unofficial second-in-command, insisted that they leave her be for a while. Something about having gone through a similar experience. Miura Kyousuke, on the other hand, was totally against Lexi's irrationality of running off on her own in a world she was so unfamiliar with. Of course, he was Mr. Rational, so it wasn't that hard to find something he disagreed with.

Oddly, Takuya had taken Kouji's side, as had Orimoto Izumi, Himi Tomoki, Shibayama Junpei, and Kouji's twin brother Kimura Kouichi. Those six had already been through a war in the Digital World, so the four new members of the team – Shinya, Kyousuke, Lexi, and Juan Cortez – pretty much had to listen to them. Anyway, with Takuya as the leader, there was little Kyousuke and Juan, who'd taken Kyousuke's side in the debate, could do. The more experienced of the Legendary Warriors insisted that Lexi would come around and realize that she couldn't walk away from it all; some of them had tried that, and failed; and she wasn't **completely** defenceless – she'd recently inherited the humanoid Spirit of Water, to transform and fight should she get into trouble. They still planned on finding her, of course; they just felt she needed a little bit of time on her own first.

"_Shinya? It's Kouichi."_ It was Kouichi, and he sounded upset. _"We've got a problem."_

"Tell me something I don't know. With Lexi wandering in the Digital World somewhere, how could things get any worse?"

"_Kouji's been arrested."_

"WHAT?"

"_Lexi's family got really worried when she didn't come home Sunday, so they called the police, and they think Kouji has something to do with it."_

"How'd they know that? I mean, he's the one who let her run off, but-"

"_I don't know, but the best thing we can do is go to the Digital World and bring Lexi back, whether she's ready or not."_

"Okay, I'll tell Takuya, and we'll head over there right away. Did you call the rest of the team?"

"_No, you guys are the first on my list."_

"How 'bout I let Juan and Tomoki know, and you can take care of JP, Zoe, and Kyle? Then we can all meet up at the station."

"_Gotcha." Click._ Koichi hung up without even saying goodbye.

Shinya ran to his brother's room and threw the door open. As he thought, Takuya was sprawled out on his bed, snoring away. Shinya grabbed his shoulder and shook it violently. The elder Kanbara awoke with a snort. "Wha..?" he moaned.

"We've got to go back."

"Aw, back to school?"

"To the Digital World. Kouichi just called; the police are looking for Lexi, and they've arrested Kouji on suspicion of God knows what!" Immediately, Takuya jumped out of bed. His feet got tangled in the sheets, so fell and landed flat on his face. "I have to call Juan and Tomoki and fill them in. We're meeting at the station."

"You can call 'em from the car, let's go," Takuya replied hurriedly. As they ran out the front door, he called back into the house: "Mom, we're going out! We'll be back before dinner!"

"But don't you have homework?" Mom responded confusedly.

"Later!" And they drove off.

* * *

**Okay, have I got your attention? What will happen to Kouji? Will the gang be able to bring Lexi back to the Real World before it's too late? And what might happen to cause problems in their plan? Stay tuned to find out.**

**R&R please!**


	2. Rescue Party

**Hi, here's a new chapter of my Return to the Digital World Series. I'm a little disappointed with the lack of response, but I guess it'll take awhile, like all stories. Brownies go out to my only reviewer, FoxyestWolf!**

**Now this first scene here is really corny and unrealistic, like some bad cop movie. It took me a LONG time to write this (like, almost a YEAR) and during that time my writing skill improved vastly. So the first scene here just isn't as good. And I give you fair warning, the ending won't make much real-world sense, but screw that and just enjoy the fic otherwise!**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Digimon or any of its characters.**

**CLAIMER: I own Detective Cortez, Lexi Walsh, Rosa Cortez, Juan Cortez, Miura Kyousuke, Karen Walsh, Oliver Walsh, Londyn Walsh, Mitzuki Walsh, and Toby Walsh. (Breathe) WOW that's a lot!**

* * *

Kouji felt like he was in a scene right out of a bad crime movie. It was all there: the concrete walls, the buzzing fluorescent lights overhead, the cold metal tables and chairs, and the even colder glare of the two officers interrogating him. "I told you already," he insisted, "I have no idea where she is! I didn't even **know** her until last Saturday!"

But just like the other two dozen times he'd repeated that, they weren't buying it."We have video footage that proves you were the last person she was seen alive with," one sneered.

"Alive? You're saying that like she's dead, or something." Kouji got a growing sense of dread at the thought. For all he knew, she **could** be dead, all alone in a world that she hadn't even known to exist up until a couple days ago.

"That's what we're assuming. A security camera caught you and Miss Walsh arguing outside a cafe yesterday afternoon, and then she got into your car with you. You know what that makes us think?"

"It makes us think that whatever happened to her," the other detective added, "you were involved in somehow." It took Kouji a second or two to understand, because he spoke with a very thick Spanish accent. He didn't know how much longer he could keep this going. There was no **way** he could tell them about the Digital World, but he needed to come up with some sort of cover story, but how could he relay it to the others in case the police turned to them to verify it?

A third cop, this one a woman, entered and whispered something in the second detective's ear. He seemed surprised by her news. "Tell him it'll have to wait until I'm done."

"But he says it can't wait. He has something urgent to show you." The Spanish detective sighed and got up.

"I'll be right back," he told his partner.

* * *

Detective Diego Cortez just wasn't having a good day. He'd been called out to help with a missing person's case at the early hours of the morning and had been at it for what seemed like forever, the young suspect refused to talk, even to come up with an alibi, and now his son was begging to see him at the worst possible time.

Juan was pacing back and forth in the lobby, his mother and his new friend Himi Tomoki watching him. As he walked towards them, he caught a bit of their conversation. "Are you **sure** you want to do this, dude?" Tomoki was asking, "The guys won't be all that happy, you know, and you parents might not believe you."

"Believe **what**?" Rosa sounded like she'd asked this question several times.

The boys ignored her. "I know, but I can't hide this from them," Juan replied, "It's just not what I do!"

"Okay, it's your decision, but I still don't think this is the safest idea."

"Dad!" Juan cried when he saw Diego coming towards them, "Dad, please, there's something you and Mom need to see!"

"Diego, believe me, I have no idea what he's going on about," Rosa insisted, "They won't tell me anything; Juan just got a phone call and told me to drive him and Tomoki down here."

Diego returned his gaze to his young son. "Juan, I'm in the middle of an interrogation. I can't just leave."

"It's the Lexi Walsh case, right?"

"Y-yes. How'd you-"

"I know her. And I have some idea where she is, but you guys have to come with me and Tommy."

Diego sighed. "Alright, alright. I'll go get some other officers and-"

"No! Nobody else but you and Mom can come. Please, this is important."

* * *

Junpei tapped his foot impatiently. Juan and Tomoki still hadn't shown up yet, Kouji was in police custody, and Kouichi was **this** close to losing it worrying over his younger twin brother. The Warrior of Darkness paced back and forth and back and forth and back and... "Kouichi, relax," Junpei advised his friend, "They'll get here soon, don't worry."

"Easy for you to say!" Kouichi snapped, "You're not the one whose brother could be charged for a crime that never even happened!"

"I know, but the only thing you're accomplishing right now is making me dizzy!" Kouichi sighed heavily and flopped down on a bench beside Izumi. The six of them – Takuya, Izumi, Junpei, Kouichi, Kyousuke, and Shinya – were waiting for the last two members of their little rescue party to show up.

It was ten more minutes before Tomoki and Juan finally came. Behind them were a man and woman, both Hispanic with dark hair and eyes. "These are my parents," Juan explained, "I decided they should know about this stuff."

"What?" Kyousuke cried, "Are you **crazy**?" The others also protested.

"I don't like lying to them! I can't keep this a secret, not without hating myself for it!"

Tomoki stepped forward. "For the record, I'm not a big fan of this idea, either, but his dad's a cop working on Lexi's case. He can help us clear Kouji and cover this whole mess up!"

Mr. Cortez protested in Spanish, and Juan replied back in the same manner. Junpei had a feeling the man wasn't too keen on trying to hide something from his superiors. After a couple seconds, Juan took his mother's hand and started pulling her towards the elevator. Everyone else followed.

* * *

They were eventually on their way on the Trailmon. Mr. and Mrs. Cortez looked around in stunned amazement. They kept whispering to each other in Spanish, often throwing nervous glances in the others' directions. Mr. Cortez seemed particularly fixated on Kouichi, probably because of his exact resemblance to Kouji.

When the bumpy part of the ride came, Junpei, who happened to be sitting right next to Mr. Cortez, had to grab the man by the arm to keep him from falling out of his seat. As he looked up to thank him, Junpei saw his eyes widen in shock. Mrs. Cortez was staring at her son with an equally surprised expression. Apparently, Juan had neglected to warn his parents that on this part of the ride, images appeared that showed the Warriors in their Humanoid Spirit forms.

"Yeah, that kinda happens every time," Takuya explained nonchalantly, "You get used to it real quick."

They arrived soon enough, and the Cortez's nearly screamed when they saw the Digimon. "That's it!" Mr. Cortez put his foot down. "Juan, your mother and I are not taking another step until you tell us what is going on!"

Juan sighed. "This place is called the Digital World, and these creatures here are Digimon. There are some evil Digimon who want to take over, and... well..."

Junpei cut in, feeling he could probably explain it better. "There are extremely powerful magical Digimon spirits that have chosen to bond with humans, and these humans are the Legendary Warriors."

"In other words," Takuya picked up, "us, and it's our job to keep the Digital World safe. Kouji and Lexi are both part of our team, but Lexi got freaked and ran off, and now Kouji's in trouble for it." The team leader paused to toss a significant glance at Mr. Cortez. "So we've got to find Lexi and bring her back so she can clear all this up."

* * *

The air was crisp and clear. The waves were smaller here; they lapped gently on the shoreline in a steady rhythm. Lexi normally would've felt at ease in such a quiet place like this, but there was just too much on her mind.

For one, why had she agreed to come to the rescue when Kouji had asked her? How had her resistance crumbled so quickly? She was supposed to try and stay **out** of this mess, not get involved just because some mysterious higher power told her she had to. She got enough of that from her parents back home.

* * *

_Ten-year-old Alexis poked miserably at her plate with her fork. Again, Londyn was arguing with their parents. "I can't believe you went to another one of those rock concerts," their mother snapped over the mashed potatoes_

"_Would you just get over it, Mom?"_

"_Young lady," their father interjected, "you know very well we've forbidden you from those. They're a terrible influence, and we will not allow a daughter of ours to go to them!"_

"_WELL MAYBE I DON'T __**WANT**__ TO BE A DAUGHTER OF YOURS ANYMORE!" Londyn stood up abruptly and marched upstairs. Alexis just watched as Mom and Dad, still fuming, returned to their food. The silence was only broken by Alisonne occasionally banging her spoon on the tray of her highchair. She hated this family. She remembered when they were a lot closer – or at least, Londyn had just gone along with whatever Mom and Dad told her to do. Now she yelled at them a lot, snuck out at night, and hid her new punk rock CDs under the bed. She even went and got a tattoo, but only Alexis knew about it._

_After quickly finishing supper, Alexis started getting up out of her chair. "Alexis," her mother chided her sternly, "What do we say?"_

"_May I please be excused?" Alexis whispered timidly before running up to the room she shared with her sister. Londyn had locked the door again, but she opened it when Alexis knocked their secret knock. As usual, she looked like she'd been crying._

"_I'm sorry you had to see that, Lexi," she apologized. Londyn was the one who gave her that nickname. "Mom and Dad just don't get it. I don't want to be their perfect daughter; it's just not me."_

"_But do you gotta fight with them? It's scary when everyone's yelling."_

_Londyn sat down on her bed, creasing the floral bedspread, and motioned for her sister to join her. Alexis did so."I'm sorry. I promise, once I turn eighteen, all the yelling is gonna stop."_

"_You really promise?"_

"_I __**really**__ promise."_

"_Pinkie swear?"_

"_Pinkie swear."_

* * *

Londyn had kept her promise, Lexi recalled. The day after her eighteenth birthday, she'd run away to Japan, on the other side of the planet, to stay with Uncle Toby and Aunt Mitzuki. Mom and Dad were furious at first, but then they got over it by purging the house of any trace of Londyn's existence, and started treating Alexis differently. They put more pressure on her to focus more on schoolwork, and less on other pursuits – she'd always wanted to be an Olympic gymnast. But even though it was her greatest ambition, she had to quit her gymnastics class and the school team. Actually, her father had done that for her; it'd been the first time she truly hated the two of them. She heard from Londyn regularly, thanks to the efforts of her sister's friend Gabe, and it was a relief to know her sister was finally happy. She was taking music courses at a small university and looking to start her own band.

Then, two weeks ago, Alexis has received an invitation from Uncle Toby to spend a year living with him and Aunt Mitzuki in Japan. Her mother, having erased her eldest daughter like a bad memory, surprisingly agreed. She said it would be good for Alexis to immerse herself in a different culture if she wanted to be a successful international entrepreneur. Lexi, on the other hand, had a different reason for going. After six years, she yearned to be with her sister again. But when she arrived, Aunt Mitzuki had said Londyn had moved out and they hadn't heard from her.

A soft breeze blew a few loose strands of hair into Lexi's face. She now wondered if it really **was** destiny that brought her halfway across the world, just like Kouichi had said a couple days ago. It was strange, really. When she'd transformed into that Digimon, Mizumon, it hadn't felt weird at all – not until after the fight was over, anyway. It'd felt... just natural. Normal, even; like something that **should** happen. She didn't feel all that freaked out about it, and **that** was what was freaking her out now. She pulled the blue and aqua green D-Scanner out of her pocket. Flickering on the screen was the face of her alter-ego. At first, she'd thought it was freakish. But now, as she examined it more closely, Lexi saw that it did have a touch of beauty to it. The green skin looked soft and clear, the dark blue hair had felt like silk against her shoulders, and the eyes... the blood-red eyes that'd frightened her at first held so much wisdom in them. Perhaps this wasn't all that bad, maybe even meant to be.

Wait, what was she saying? No, this wasn't happening. She was going to do what **she** wanted to for a change. That was another reason she'd accepted the offer to come halfway across the world.

Suddenly, several high-pitched cries reached her ears. Lexi followed the sound through the nearby forest, and found a small group of Digimon. The biggest one, a knee-high, four-legged, orange and yellow, fuzzy, fierce-looking creature, had all the others backed up against a large log. Lexi ran forward and stood between them, one part of her brain asking why the hell she was even getting involved. "Leave them alone!" she ordered, wondering what had possessed her to take action. The aggressor merely snarled and charged, but Lexi scooped it up and tossed it as far as she could. The nasty Digimon tried again, and this time it sank its pointy teeth into her arm as she grabbed it. Startled, Lexi dropped it and instinctively kicked it as hard as she could. Finally, the creature gave up and hurried away.

"Thank you!" The squeal from below her was followed by the sensation of something attaching itself to her calf. Lexi looked down to see one of the littler Digimon clinging onto her and gazing up at her adoringly. Her first impulse was to shriek and attempt to shake the little creature off, but she just couldn't do it. They were all kind of cute, in a strange, alien way. They looked like large green and white hamsters with small plants growing out of their backs. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! That Gizamon would've had us if you hadn't come along."

Lexi smiled and knelt down. "Oh, it was nothing. I couldn't just stand there and watch, could I?"

"Well, thank you again anyway. We're Tanemon. Who are you?"

"I'm Lexi."

"Are you a human? We've never seen one, but we've heard all about them."

"Yes, I am. Are there any more of those Gizamon wandering around? You little guys shouldn't be off on your own with those things out there."

"Our village is really close by, so we thought we'd be fine. Hey, do you want to come back with us? We can get you some food and do something about your arm. What do you say, Lexi?"

Lexi's stomach grumbled, noisily reminding her how starved she was. "Okay."

* * *

**Alright, that's the first chapter. Hope this gets more response than the last one.**


	3. Worth the Risk

**Okay, I'm BAAAAAAAACK!**

**Just in case you were wondering why the names are different, I've changed all the 'Return to the Digital World' stories so that they have the original Japanese names, and I changed Kyle's name to Kyousuke. Also, Rochemon is now Iwamon and Amphirimon is now Mizumon. Juan and Lexi's names are the same because Lexi's Canadian and Juan's Spanish. Same goes for all their relatives. Anyway, Enjoy the fic!**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Digimon.**

**CLAIMER: I own Rosa, Juan, Isabel, Lexi, Kyousuke, and Diego.**

* * *

Rosa had one arm wrapped protectively around her son as she spoke. "No. I won't let my baby get involved in this."

"But Mom..." Juan complained, "I already **am** involved. This is really important!" Rosa didn't care. She'd already lost one baby. She wouldn't lose another.

* * *

_Rosa had always loved this park on the outskirts of Madrid. She'd frequently played there as a girl, gotten her first kiss there, and her wedding had taken place right across the pond from where she sat right now. And now she took the twins there every day. She let them have free reign of the area, so long as they stayed away from the pond. Neither Juan nor Isabel could swim; after all, they were only three._

_"Rosa!" a friend called, "Over here!" Rosa was positive the children would be fine if she took her eyes off them for a couple seconds, so she walked over to chat. They were trying to play catch, although neither one of them could throw **or** catch very well._

_Only one minute later, the wail of sirens could be heard. They were getting closer and closer. A beat-up van, swerving wildly, zoomed by on the nearby road, followed by half a dozen police cars._

_A shrill cry reached Rosa's ears. She turned to see Isabel flying through the air, having been struck by the fleeing vehicle. She hit the grassy ground with a dull 'thud'. Rosa ran over to her daughter, devastated. Isabel's small body was lifeless; she wouldn't open her eyes and her favourite pink sundress was stained with her blood. Rosa held the little girl close to her chest, sobbing. Juan was right by their side. He didn't cry; he was far too young to comprehend the horror of what had just happened._

* * *

She couldn't let Juan partake in this. It was far too dangerous. Her mission in life, after Isabel was killed, was to protect him until he was old enough to take care of himself – sixteen, at the least. She ensured that he didn't eat any junk, got a decent education, and never got involved in any dangerous activities – just like this.

"Please, Mrs. Cortez," the leader of the reckless teenagers – Takuya, she believed his name was – begged her, "Our friend could go to jail for a crime that was never committed, and we're putting our butts on the line to help him. If you just let Juan stay with us, I promise we'll keep him safe, too. We always watch each other's back. Please, we need him if this world is going to survive."

Rosa shook the boy's words off. She understood that they needed someone to use those Spirits, but it didn't have to be her baby. She wasn't about to bury another child. "No. You can find somebody else to join your team, but our boy won't fight. He can't; he's far too young."

"Not really," the tall, sandy-haired boy, Junpei, cut in, "I was the same age he is now when we first came here, and I'm the oldest! Hell, Tomoki here was eight! We weren't too young for it then, and Juan ain't too young for it now."

"Uh, anyone mind if **I** have a say in this?" Juan suddenly snapped. Rosa was so surprised that she didn't resist when he pulled away from her. "I want to do this," he announced, "Mom, I'm twelve years old. I'm not a little kid anymore, and this is **my** responsibility. I was chosen for a reason."

Rosa shook her head. "It doesn't have to be yours," she insisted. Why didn't he see it? "My decision is final. We're leaving – now." A rumbling noise came from behind them, and she turned to see the train chugging away. "No, wait!" she called, but clearly the conductor couldn't stop.

"Mole's got a tight schedule," Takuya explained, "So it looks like we're all stuck here for the next couple of hours."

"A couple of hours?"

"Well, as long as we're here, we might as well get to doing what we came here to do," an older boy with black hair and a grey hooded jacket – Rosa couldn't quite remember his name – stated, "The sooner we bring Lexi back to our world, the sooner my brother's released." He turned and started walking off in a random direction.

"Hey, Kouichi, wait up!" Takuya called, "I know you wanna get going as soon as possible, but we should at least get into groups first." Kouichi reluctantly trudged back to the group, looking impatient. "All right, we'll split into two teams. Izumi, Kyousuke, Junpei, Tomoki, and Kouichi, you guys check the cave we last saw her at. Keep an eye out, though. For all we know, Hydramon could've come back. The rest of us will try and track Lexi through the D-Scanners. Remember, she's got two or three Spirits on her, so she'll be easy to locate." The other kids nodded seriously.

Diego took Rosa's hand and squeezed it. "We might as well go along with them," he whispered, "And besides, I'm working the Walsh girl's case. I should help look." Rosa nodded in agreement, even though she wanted to stay put. That poor girl was probably lost out there, and Diego was right – he needed to find her. After all, it was his job. Besides, she wasn't going to just stay if Juan insisted on going as well; she had to protect her son.

Takuya reached into his pocket and pulled out a strange red and black hand-held device. Two others, the only girl and the boy in green – Izumi and Kyousuke – did the same. Before Rosa could open her mouth to ask, they each pushed a button and shouted: "EXECUTE! SPIRIT EVOLUTION!" The three of them were enveloped in glowing cocoon-things that came out of nowhere, and were replaced by otherworldly-looking beings. Takuya now stood taller than Diego; he wore black and scarlet armour, including a horned helmet; his brown eyes were now blue-green, and his now wild, straw-coloured hair hung down his back. Kyousuke also gained some height, and was now formed of solid brown and grey stone, except for his eyes, which were now brown instead of their original grey shade. Izumi stayed more or less the same size, her hair had turned purple and gotten longer, a mask completely covered her eyes, she wore a rather revealing pink outfit, and had large wings – like those of a butterfly – growing out of her back. Rosa blinked twice, just to be sure she wasn't seeing things.

"Just in case we face another sneak attack," Takuya explained, "We don't want to get caught off guard again." The others nodded seriously before going off in two separate directions. Rosa and Diego hesitated before following their son as he hurried off with Takuya and his brother Shinya.

* * *

The Tanemon's village was an adorable sight. Little houses made of leaves, branches, and vines were situated all over the place, and bunches of flowers grew everywhere. Several other Tanemon were running around, but there was also another type of Digimon living there, too. These ones were knee-high plant creatures with huge pink lilies growing out of the tops of their heads. "This is our sister Palmon," a Tanemon introduced her to one, "Palmon, this is our new friend Lexi. She saved us from a Gizamon!"

Palmon smiled up at Lexi. "Really? I'm impressed. Those Gizamon are always attacking us and going after our little ones lately. We have no clue why, but it's about time one of them was put in his place. You didn't get hurt, did you? They can be very vicious."

"Well, it bit my arm," Lexi stated, showing Palmon her now bleeding wound, "It hasn't got any possible diseases, does it?"

"Not that I know of. How about we take care of that? I've got just the thing." She ducked into the nearest hut and came back out with a bunch of big, fat leaves. "These have special healing properties," she explained, beginning to wrap them around Lexi's arms. Lexi felt a slight stinging sensation.

"Are you sure they work on humans, though?"

"Positive. Here, why don't you sit down?"

Lexi sat herself down on the soft grass while Palmon continued her work. "So... you've heard of the Legendary Warriors, right?" She would never admit that she was considering staying with the others at that point, especially not to herself, but she did want to know more about their earlier exploits. If anything, it would at least be an interesting story to listen to while she got her arm fixed up.

"Who hasn't? They came and saved us all five years ago. Showed up right when we really needed them, too. Lucemon's minions were scanning everything in sight, making the Digital World vanish bit by bit. Mountains, towns, lakes, Digimon, you name it, they just disappeared. Eventually, the entire world was gone, but then the Warriors restored us all when they defeated Lucemon."

Lexi's eyebrows shot up. The others had glossed over the whole world disappearing part when they'd told the story. "Wow. I had no idea the destruction had gone so far. The others never told me."

"Others?"

"Yeah. I'm..." She hesitated, then decided she'd say it. "I'm one of the newer Warriors, I suppose. Not officially, though, I'm still deciding."

Palmon froze. "You mean... You mean **I'm** dressing the battle wounds of one of the Legendary Warriors?"

"Um... yeah, I guess. Of course, it wasn't exactly a battle."

"Who cares? It's such an honour, having you here! Anything you need us to do, we'll do it!" All the other Palmon and Tanemon, who'd been listening in, nodded enthusiastically.

"It's okay, really. Besides, I'm not sure if I can go through with all this, anyway."

"What do you mean?"

"Practically all my life, I've had people telling me what to do, what to say, what to **think**. I finally manage to escape all that, and right away I'm told I have to become some sort of superhero and save some other world. I'm not the kind of person who takes 'Because I said so' as a good reason to do something! I didn't even get a say in it, and it's **my** life I'm putting on the line. Why should I just go along with it?"

"I don't know. Is that really your only problem with it?"

"Huh?"

"If you were asked to help instead of being told, would you have said no?"

Lexi bit her lip. She'd never considered that before. "I... I don't know. If I was asked right when I first came to the Digital World, I would've said no. But now, I'm not so sure. I mean, now that I've seen all the damage that's being done, I feel like I should do **something**. To be honest, though, I'm not sure if I **can** do anything. I'm not a fighter, or anything like that. I mean, why'd they have to pick **me**?"

"Well, maybe whoever chose you thinks you've got what it takes."

Before Lexi could reply, a sudden loud rustling in the bushes got everyone's attention. "It's the Gizamon!" a Tanemon cried, "They're back!" All the Digimon panicked and scattered. Some ran into their huts, others headed for the edge of the village. One Tanemon jumped into Lexi's arms, terrified. Growling, a Gizamon crept out of the brush, followed by another, and then another, until they were surrounding the entire village, trapping those attempting to flee. Lexi clutched the Tanemon protectively to her chest. There were so many of them. One lashed out at a Palmon, knocking her down with a vicious swipe of its claws.

"Hey!" Lexi shouted. Suddenly all the attention was on her, unfortunately, but she didn't back down. She did **not** like bullies. "Why don't you pick on someone your own size? What'd these Palmon and Tanemon ever do to you?" All the Gizamon just stared at her with a wicked gleam in their eyes. Now common sense was kicking back in. Why couldn't she just have kept her big mouth shut? She couldn't take them all on at once!

Her D-Scanner started making weird beeping noises. She pulled it out and looked at in again and saw the face of Mizumon on its screen. Maybe she **wasn't** alone.

Lexi set Tanemon down – with difficulty, as the little Digimon was clinging to her so tightly – and Spirit Evolved. "AQUA BLAST!" Half the Gizamon were blasted back by. The powerful jets of water she'd summoned from the ground. It took all her concentration to avoid hitting all the other Digimon.

The Gizamon continued to press forward – there were too many of them for her to handle. Suddenly, a fist-sized rock came flying from behind her and hit one of them right between the eyes. Mizumon turned just in time to see Shinya lobbing another one, also striking its target. Agunimon was with him, along with Juan and a couple that could possibly be Juan's parents. "Guys!" she called to them, "How'd you find me?"

"You've got three D-Scanners on you," Agunimon replied, "It wasn't that hard." He aimed a volley of FIRE DARTS towards a few Gizamon, but missed and ignited one of the huts. "Aw, man! Stay still, would ya?"

Mizumon put it out with a smaller AQUA BLAST. "And here I thought you were the expert!"

"Hey, it's been five years, and I'm used to bigger targets! These guys are too fast!"

* * *

**So, that was exciting, wasn't it? Next chapter is coming up two weeks from now on July 24th. See you all then! And read and review and PLEASE tell me what you think. CONSTRUCTIVE criticism (not flames) welcomed, as I want to know how to improve this series for you guys.**


	4. Tsurumon Emerges

**Hey, sorry this is a little late. I just had my wisdom teeth removed on Friday, and let me tell you, I do NOT want to suffer trough that again. However, that means for the next few days I can just lounge around and therefore have more time to work on my fics!**

**Also, I've just joined DeviantART and Aquawraith, and I will be posting some of my Fanart, including OCs. So you can finally see what the new Legendary Warriors look like!**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Digimon or any of its characters.**

**CLAIMER: I own Lexi, Kyousuke, Juan, Rosa, Diego, Iwamon, Mizumon, and Tsurumon. Oh, and the mysterios 'Master'.**

* * *

Kouichi was growing more and more impatient with each passing second, because every minute they wasted was another minute his brother had to spend in a jail cell or an interrogation room or whatever he was being held in. He, Tomoki, Junpei, and Iwamon had spread out to cover more ground, while Fairymon zipped about overhead. Still no sign. Lexi honestly couldn't have gotten far, even in a day. Then again, they **had** travelled long distances in short amounts of time by catching a ride on a Trailmon. If she'd managed to find one...

"Anything?" he called up to Fairymon as she appeared above him.

She shook her head sadly. "Sorry, I've got nothing. I doubt she's anywhere **near** here."

"She probably found a Trailmon, and could be miles away by now."

Fairymon descended so that she was hovering right beside him. "Well, maybe the others are having better luck."

"I doubt it. They would've contacted us if they'd found her, or at least a clue to where she was. I just hope Kouji is holding out okay."

"I'm sure he'll be fine. Stop worrying about him. You know as well as I do that he can handle himself easily, and it's not like they're allowed to hurt him. The worst case scenario is that he's extremely bored and annoyed. Your folks are the ones you should be worried about."

"Huh?"

"Well, what do you think must be going through their minds? I mean, they don't know anything at all, except that Kouji's under suspicion of God knows what. Not to mention Lexi's family is probably scared out of their minds, wondering if she's even alive."

"I guess you're right. As usual. Don't you ever get tired of being right?" Suddenly, Kouichi's D-Scanner started beeping wildly from his pocket. He pulled it out, and a hologram of a map appeared over the screen. One point was flashing red.

"Hey, what's it doing?" Fairymon peered over his shoulder for a better look.

"I think it's detected a Spirit."

Fairymon turned back into Izumi and produced her own D-Scanner. "Mine's not doing anything. It must be one of your Spirits, Kouichi."

Kouichi felt a small thrill of excitement. He'd been dying to Spirit Evolve again for a long time. He turned to face Izumi. "I'm going after it," he announced decidedly.

* * *

"So, this is the Wind Factory?" Kyousuke asked, looking at the peeling sign and dilapidated building in front of them, "It looks like it could use a paint job or two... or twelve."

"It was a whole lot nicer last time I was here," Junpei explained, "even with all the Goblimon."

The two of them headed into the ruins. "So, what's the story on this place?"

"It was, like, Day Two or Three here for us, and we were practically starving. So we stopped by and wound up getting a whole guided tour. We were about to leave once we found out all they served at the cafeteria was alkaline pie and batteries, but then-"

"Batteries?" Kyousuke gave Junpei a strange look. "Who eats **batteries**?"

"The Kokuwamon that worked there. They're machine-type Digimon, so that was what they ate. Well, technically, it was the energy that came **from** the batteries, they never really ate the actual things. Anyway, we were on our way out, but we learned that the Kokuwamon were actually prisoners in there, and we led them in a riot that almost destroyed the place. We almost lost..." They'd finally made it to the center, and Junpei started pulling at a large pile of scrap metal. "...until... this... thing... got busted... ugh!... busted open, and..." He stopped, unable to budge the heavy pieces.

Kyousuke stepped forward, cracking his knuckles. "Stand aside," he announced, Spirit Evolving. Iwamon easily ripped the metal off like it was cheap plastic wrap, exposing the Spirit beneath.

"And then I found this little baby," Junpei concluded, pointing his D-Scanner at it and absorbing it. "My little Spirit of Thunder. I kicked Snimon's ass!"

"_Junpei?"_ The voice came from Junpei's D-Scanner. _"Junpei, are you there? It's Shinya."_

Junpei pushed a button. "Yeah, I hear you. What's going on?"

"_We've found Lexi, but there's a big problem. We're at a small village, and it's under attack! They aren't too strong, but we're seriously outnumbered! We need backup!"_

"Okay, I've got Kyousuke with me, we're on our way." He looked over at Iwamon. "Let's go."

* * *

Izumi weaved between various trees and bushes, looking for Tomoki. After getting Shinya's panicked call, she'd volunteered to go find Tomoki, since he didn't have his D-Scanner and there was no other way to contact him. Realizing she'd have better luck spotting him from above, she Spirit Evolved and soared above the treetops. It took him only a minute to appear below her.

"Tomoki!" she called. The younger teen glanced up in surprise as she landed next to him. He was kneeling down, examining something on the ground. "Takuya and the others found Lexi, but they're in trouble! We have to go help them!"

"Okay, but first, take a look at this," he replied seriously, pointing at the ground. It was a claw, lying by a footprint, obviously from a big Digimon. "Whatever left this behind did a lot of damage to a little village I came across. It was completely abandoned, but Bokomon's certain the attack was recent – not even a week ago."

"Where's Bokomon now?"

"He and the other Digimon stayed behind to look for... survivors."

Fairymon bit her lip. "You don't think any innocent Digimon were killed, do you?"

"I don't know for sure, but with the way that village was demolished, it's possible. Whatever happened, it means there's an extremely powerful and dangerous Digimon in the loose."

* * *

The taste of her blood still lingered in his mouth, and he wanted more. Mizumon didn't look like the human girl, but her scent was exactly the same. He had to have it.

The other one, Agunimon, was one of his obstacles, and if the Warrior of Flame wasn't in the way, then his fellow Gizamon were, or an insignificant Palmon.

The humans who'd arrived with Agunimon made no difference; they were trying to help the Tanemon escape. Gizamon was okay with that; the less distractions, the better. Scaring little Digimon was just a small bonus. What he was really interested in was the reward he would get from The Master once his task was complete. That, and the human girl. Her blood was probably sweeter when she was in this form, stronger.

"Gizamon..." The voice of The Master interrupted his musings. He threw a quick glance at each of his enemies to be sure they weren't looking, then ducked behind a tree. A small, dark portal appeared in the side of the trunk, and a pair of glowing red eyes could be seen in the centre.

Gizamon bowed low once he recognized them. "Master," he growled, "To what do I owe such an honour, Your Greatness?"

"Enough pleasantries, Gizamon. Have you obtained the Spirit yet, or have you not?"

"Soon, Master, very soon. We ran into a little problem, but it ain't nothing serious."

"**What** problem?"

"The Legendary Warriors, Master. Four of 'em showed up, but only half of 'em got Spirits."

"And the others..." An image of a human boy with dark hair appeared within the vortex. "Is this one of them?" Gizamon peeked back around the tree. He was mildly shocked to see so many of his brothers down for the count. It seemed Mizumon and Agunimon were more powerful than he'd thought, even though the former was supposed to be only a beginner.

Then he noticed the other humans off to the side. One of them, the one practically being strangled in an embrace from the adult female, looked exactly like the boy in the vortex. Gizamon turn to face The Master again, trying to hide his sudden fear of the thought of losing. "Yeah, he's here, Master. What's so special about him?"

"Keep him from attaining the Spirit. He is the one human that can unlock its powers."

"Of course, Master. He won't get near it. GIZAMON DIGIVOLE TO... APEMON!"

* * *

Almost all the Tanemon were safely out of the way. Juan and Shinya had directed them all up into the trees. Luckily, none of the Gizamon seemed to be very good climbers. Padre helped a little, too, even grabbing a Tanemon up mere seconds before a Gizamon pounced. Mamà, on the other hand, was more focused on Juan. Every time something so much as **moved** near him, she would pull him closer to her protectively. After a couple minutes, he was positive a bruise would form on his arm where she kept tugging at it. Agunimon and Mizumon were both handling the Gizamon rather well, but were having trouble with numbers and keeping the village in one piece. The Palmon helped out as well, using their 'Poison Ivy' attack to keep the enemy at bay.

Shinya jumped down from the nearest tree, landing next to the Cortez family. "I think that's all of them," he stated breathlessly, "Where's the rest of the team? I called them ages ago!"

As if it was some sort of cue, Fairymon, Iwamon, and Tomoki burst into the clearing, followed by two large Digimon Juan recognized from the illusions on the Trailmon as Junpei and Kouichi. Several Gizamon turned and fled at the sight of them, but stopped when a huge gorilla-like Digimon appeared out of nowhere. "Stay and fight!" he commanded them, "Find the hidden Spirit!"

Juan gasped. "So **that**'s what they're after!" Shinya said out loud, "It has to be either yours or mine. There's nobody else left!"

"Tomoki!" Mizumon called, "Catch!" She tossed the Ice Warrior his D-Scanner, which he easily caught.

"EXECUTE! SPIRIT EVOLUTION! KUMAMON!"

Juan found it near impossible to hold back a small laugh as his friend shrunk to about half his original height, becoming a little white teddy bear wielding a blaster. Shinya was practically rolling on the forest floor in hysterics. "You know," Kumamon commented, "This isn't quite as cool as it was when I was eight."

"Well I... think..." Shinya teased while attempting to breathe normally again, "I think it's just adorable!" He started cracking up again.

"TSURARARA!" Kumamon nearly impaled one Gizamon and froze four others solid in that single attack. "How's that for 'adorable'?"

Juan and Shinya stopped laughing right away.

Still the Gizamon continued to press on. They ripped a few huts apart, as if they were searching for something. The bigger Digmon kept the Warriors' hands full. They were holding back in their attacks; the close space increased the risk of hitting a friend.

"Apemon!" one of the Gizamon cried from the centre of the village, digging at the ground, "It's here! The Spirt is underground!" Apemon grinned and loped over. The Warriors tried to follow him, but more Gizamon blocked their way. There seemed to be no end to them; despite all their power, the Legendary Warriors were being just barely overwhelmed by sheer numbers.

Shinya suddenly made a break for it, his D-Scanner in hand. Juan knew what would happen next. The D-Scanner would absorb the Spirit, and Shinya would become a Digimon.

But when Shinya got there, nothing happened.

"Juan!" he called back, "It's not doing anything! It's gotta be yours!" Juan started to run forward, reaching for his D-Scanner in his pocket.

He'd only taken about three steps when his mamà took his arm again. "What are you doing?" she asked frantically, "Let those other children handle this!"

Juan gritted his teeth. "Let me go!" he insisted, "Please, I'm the only one who can use that Spirit! It'll be a disaster if I don't get it in time!"

"No! I'm **not** losing you!" She pulled him in and held him to her so tightly that he had some difficulty breathing. "This isn't something you're capable of handling! We have to leave!"

"But the village... all the Digimon who live here! They need more help, and if that big guy gets the Spirit, he'll destroy everything!"

"This isn't even our world! It has nothing to do with us!"

"JUAN!" He twisted around in his mamà's grip to see Shinya struggling with a Gizamon, trying to keep it off the Spirit. "Hurry up and claim it, already! I can't keep this up forever!"

Juan ground his teeth together again. "I'm sorry, Mamà," he stated, "But you're wrong. It has **everything** to do with me!" He broke free, already feeling the tingling sensation in his hand. From the others' descriptions, he knew it was his Digi-Code emerging. He held up the small brown and green D-Scanner, and the Spirit zoomed right into it. "EXECUTE! SPIRIT EVOLUTION!"

The feeling was amazing, overpowering. It was **way** better than what he'd imagined. He felt his limbs changing, his entire body morphing into something else. "TSURUMON!"

He landed in a sort of crouching position, one leg bent beneath him with the other extended out to the side, and his left hand on the ground. Glancing down, he saw that it was made of a green, plant-like material. Undoubtedly, he'd become the creature he'd seen in his reflection in the Trailmon's windows a few days ago.

A guttural growl came from above him. Tsurumon looked up to see Apemon less than a foot in front of him, glaring down with a mad gleam in his beady black eyes. "That's **mine**!" the big gorilla roared, taking a swipe. Tsurumon jumped to avoid the blow, backflipping out of the Digimon's reach. "It's mine to give to The Master, nobody else's!"

"The Master?" Iwamon asked. The others were apparently listening in as well. "Who's that?"

Apemon ignored the question, instead taking another swing. Dodging again, Tsurumon punched the ground with his right fist. "CREEPING ENSNAREMENT!" He could feel his 'fingers' elongate and push their way through the soil, quickly re-emerging directly underneath Apemon as thick, snaking vines. He used those to lift the big monkey and toss him into a thick tree trunk. Half the Gizamon squealed – yes, squealed – and took off in all directions.

The good guys now had the advantage in numbers. "Mizumon, Iwamon!" Agunimon called, "Take care of the rest of 'em! We've got the big guy!" He, Kumamon, Fairymon, and Junpei and Kouichi – what were their Spirit names again? – surrounded Apemon on all sides, effectively blocking any route of escape.

Not that the big guy cared. His beady, evil eyes were set on Tsurumon only. He lunged again, but Tsurumon fired a vine out of his left hand and caught a tree branch, using it to swing over the enemy's head. "POD BLASTER!" he shouted, firing several glowing green energy pods from his other hand. Apemon roared in pain as he was hit.

By then, Iwamon and Mizumon had finished scaring off the Gizamon, with help from the Palmon. Apemon was all alone now, but he still wasn't giving up. "MEGA BONE STICK!" The big monkey suddenly had a large bone in his meaty paws, and was swinging it around. The Legendary Warriors ducked and jumped back, and when Apemon had his attention on Junpei, Kouichi struck him with his 'EWIG SCHLAF'.

Tsurumon then used another 'CREEPING ENSNAREMENT', only this time with both hands. Again, his vines came up underneath Apemon, this time holding him in place. "Okay, Blitzmon!" Agunimon shouted, "NOW!"

Junpei – Blitzmon – probably would've grinned if he'd had a visible mouth. "My pleasure," he stated, "LIGHTNING TOPPER!" A ball of lightning formed near the tip of the horn on his head and then fired out and hit Apemon. Tsurumon grit his teeth – cool, he was a plant creature and still had teeth – as the electricity travelled through his vines, which were technically his really long fingers, and into the ground. It stung a little, and he vaguely wondered if that was what it felt like sticking his finger into an electrical socket.

"Ow!" he yelped, dropping Apemon and pulling his slightly smoking hands out. "Next time, make sure I'm not the only thing connecting your target to the ground!"

"Whoops. Sorry 'bout that, little man."

Apemon slowly got up, snarling and looking madder than ever. "METALLIC FUR!" His fur turned to shiny metal – what did you **think** would happen? – and he dove for Mizumon, tackling her.

"Hey!" she yelled, "Someone get this monkey off me!" With that, she slammed her fist into Apemon's face. The huge Digimon grunted in pain, but wouldn't move.

"Lowemon!" Agunimon ordered.

"ENDLICH METEOR!"A sphere of black and yellow energy gathered at the open mouth of the lion carved into Kouichi's – Lowemon's – breastplate, and blasted Apemon, knocking him off Mizumon and into the tree again. The 'METALLIC FUR' effect vanished, and he started to get up again, but they all knocked him down, combining 'BURNING SALAMANDER', 'BREZZA PETALLO', 'SNOW BOMBER', 'THOR HAMMER', 'ROCK SLAM', 'AQUA BLAST', and 'POD BLASTER'.

This time, Apemon **stayed** down. His body blackened and the ring of Digi-Code appeared. "You want to do the honours, Tsurumon?" Fairymon asked.

Tsurumon nodded and pulled his D-Scanner out of thin air. "Digi-Code, Scan!" he shouted.

Apemon dissolved, leaving a beaten Gizamon lying next to the tree. The Legendary Warriors turned back to their human forms and gathered around, all glaring down at him. "So what do we do with this one?" Lexi asked, "Should we just let him go?"

"I say we leave him," Kyousuke stated, "He can't do a whole lot of damage on his own."

"Tell that to the village a few miles from here!" Tomoki argued, "I noticed his claws, they're identical to the ones left behind when a Digimon trashed the place!"

"Hang on a second, didn't he mention something about a 'Master'?" Izumi mused, rubbing her chin, "That could be the evil Digimon we're supposed to find and defeat."

"Yeah," Junpei agreed, "We should try and get some answers outta this guy."

Kouichi just grabbed Lexi by the arm and started pulling her in the direction of the terminal. "You guys worry about that," he said, "We're to go clear my brother's name."

"Huh?" Lexi asked, "What are you talking about?" She pulled her arm free. "And why do you twins insist on dragging me along like this? I **can** walk, you know."

"Oh, sorry."

Padre stepped forward. Juan had almost completely forgotten that he and Mamà were even there. "I'll explain," he said, getting into his 'professional' mode, "I'm Detective Cortez of the local police force, and Juan's father. I was assigned your Missing Persons case."

"Missing Persons?" Lexi gasped, "Aw, crap! I've been gone for two whole days, haven't I? My aunt and uncle must be going nuts!"

"I'm afraid they are. And since your friend Kouji was the last person you were seen alive with, he's being held for questioning. We were suspecting the worst."

"What, you thought he killed me, or something?" Lexi's eyes widened. "That's bull! Have him let out!"

"I'm sorry, but that'll only happen if you're no longer missing. So we should come up with a believable story and head back to our own world."

"Yes," Mamà interrupted, grabbing Juan and tugging his D-Scanner out of his hand, "Let's go back home and forget this ever happened."

"What?" Juan cried, reaching for his D-Scanner, "But Mamà, I can't just walk away from my destiny!"

This isn't your 'destiny', it's someone else's." She shoved the D-Scanner into Tomoki's stunned hands. "This cause has nothing to do with us, and it's just too dangerous for you to get involved!"

"Too dangerous? I just proved that I can look after myself, and I've got everyone else watching my back, too! Come on, Mamà, I'm not a little kid anymore! **I** was chosen to be one of the new Legendary Warriors, and it's **my** responsibility!"

"That's enough! We'll continue this discussion later." With that note of finality, she began pulling Juan away from his team, into the woods in the direction they'd come from. Glancing back, Juan saw Lexi and Kouichi following, looking uncomfortable after witnessing the argument. Dad hung back for some reason.

Juan sighed. There was just no talking to Mamà. He could protest for a week straight, and it still wouldn't change her mind. This wasn't fair. No, it was worse than just 'not fair'; it was a serious problem for the Digital World. How could he help the others when Mom wasn't going to let him out of her sight? Okay, so she'd never said that, but Juan knew her well enough. How was he going to get out of this one?

* * *

**Wow, I didn't realize until now just how long this chapter is. Anyway, there's only one chapter left, coming in two week, and Part 4 won't be up for a while. Sorry, but I still have a backlog of other stories taht really should've been up a while ago, but got delayed thanks to a major writer's block I got this time last year.**

**By the way, do you think I made Gizamon too creepy?**


	5. Epilogue: Resolving

**Alrighty, here's the last chapter of Under Suspicion. You'll see the summary for Part Four on my profile, but it'll be a long time before I start posting it. I post one chapter a week, and all the fics listed before it have been waiting for longer. But for now, I'll give you a sneak peek at the rough draft version of the very first scene!**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Digimon or any of its characters.**

**CLAIMER: I own Juan, Mr and Mrs Cortez, Kyousuke, Lexi, her aunt and uncle, Aremon, Athemon, and The Master.**

* * *

Takuya watched as Juan was dragged away from them by his crazy mother. Seriously, that lady was the poster woman for the insanely overprotective. Detective Cortez hung back, instead of following his wife and son. He looked pretty uncomfortable with the whole situation. Takuya found this guy to be kinda cool for a dad who'd recently discovered that his son was destined to save the universe. He'd helped get the Tanemon to safety, and at least he didn't seem to have a problem with Juan being a part of your team. If only they could say the same for his wife.

"I'm sorry about Rosa," the man told them quietly. He took Juan's D-Scanner back from Tomoki. "I'll try to reason with her. Good luck." And with that, he left.

"You too!" Tomoki called back.

There was an awkward silence after that as they stared after him. Then Takuya, never one for awkward silences, turned back to the defeated Gizamon. "Alright, we'd better get this guy restrained before he wakes up," he declared, "The more we know about this 'Master' guy, the better, and we can't have our only info source running off now, can we?"

The others nodded seriously. "I'll take care of it," one Palmon volunteered, "POISON IVY!"

Gizamon awoke only a minute after being tied up. "Hey!" he snapped, "Lemme go!"

"Answer a few questions, and we'll consider it," Kyousuke replied coolly.

"You mentioned you had a master who wanted the Spirit," Shinya stated, "Who is it?"

Gizamon growled at them, "I ain't sayin' nothin'"

"Fine," Takuya countered, "I don't know about you guys, but I've got all day. I can wait."

"Me, too," Junpei added, sitting down and reclining against a nearby rock, "But I don't think the Palmon are all that happy with you. And we're not gonna stop 'em if they decide they wanna get you back."

"Actually," a second Palmon piped up, "We Palmon aren't a violent race. We don't attack unless there's a direct threat to our home, friends, or family."

Junpei sweatdropped. "Okay, forget I said anything. Just start talking already."

"No."

Takuya was getting bored with this already. Maybe Det. Cortez should've stuck around. He probably had interrogation training. Takuya stretched his arms and took a moment to look at the destruction around them. "Well, while we're waiting," he suggested, "We might as well start fixing things up around here. This place is actually messier than my room."

"And here I thought that was impossible," Shinya commented.

Indeed there was a lot of work needed to rebuild the village. Some of the inhabitants were already sifting through the debris, trying to figure out what could or could not be salvaged.

Just then, the bushes nearby started rustling. Takuya and the others tensed up, ready to Spirit Evolve if necessary. Suddenly, Neemon fell out with a loud "Owchie!" followed by Salamon, Lopmon, and Bokomon. Patamon glided into the clearing after them, breathless.

"Oh, thank goodness!" Bokomon cried, "I was afraid we'd missed..." He looked around at the action-free scene before him. "...everything."

Patamon touched down rather ungracefully on the only hut left intact. "What happened?" he asked, gasping for breath, "We heard all the noise, and came here as fast as we could."

"Long story short, some Gizamon were attacking, we showed up, Juan Spirit Evolved, and we kicked their butts," Junpei said bluntly, "Then the kid and his parents went home, and Lexi and Kouichi went with 'em to bail Kouji out. Oh, and we've captured a Gizamon 'cuz we think he's working for the 'great evil' we'll obviously have to face at some point."

Bokomon did **not** look happy. "You mean... a new Spirit was found, and I **MISSED** IT?" He began sputtering incomprehensible noises.

"Hey!" Kyousuke shouted all of a sudden, "He's getting away!"

Takuya turned to see Gizamon, having torn through his restraints while they weren't paying attention, dashing towards the forest. Shinya launched himself at the Digimon, but missed and only got a face full of grass. Kyousuke took off after him, quickly vanishing into the woods. Were they **ever** going to get a break today? "Come on!" Takuya urged everyone else, "We've gotta catch him! Izumi, Junpei, get in the air, the rest of us will follow on foot!"

* * *

Lexi shifted her feet nervously. She was in **so** much trouble. She still wasn't sure about the story she, Kouichi, and Detective Cortez had come up with on the Trailmon ride back. Would her family and the other police buy it? The story was that she'd gone with her new friends on a hiking trip, but then the others had changed their minds and she'd decided to go on alone, and gotten lost. There were plenty of holes in it – for one, they'd be curious as to why Kouji never mentioned it, and Lexi had never expressed any interest in hiking – but it was the best they could come up with. This was why she sucked at Creative Writing class.

Surprisingly, Det. Cortez had managed to get the other detectives to officially declare the case closed, and now she was just waiting for Aunt Mitzuki and Uncle Toby to finish filling out paperwork, and for Kouji to be released.

He came out after a couple minutes, and his mother nearly strangled him in a hug. He spoke with his family for a bit, then walked over to her. Lexi's insides squirmed. It was her fault he'd been arrested in the first place. He probably hated her guts right now.

They stood in an awkward silence. Then Lexi finally got the courage to speak. "I'm sorry!" she blurted.

Kouji looked surprised. "Huh? What for?" he asked.

"It's all my fault. If I hadn't gone off on my own..."

"Hey, it's fine. A few hours in my life I'll never get back, but it's not that big of a deal. I still don't know why that detective was so interested in letting me go all of a sudden. It's like after he came back, he knew a whole lot more than he let on."

"He does. Detective Cortez is Juan's dad. The kid decided to bring his parents along on the rescue mission."

"What? Is he crazy, or something? **Nobody** is supposed to know about the Digital World!"

"Look, you'll have to ask your brother to explain. My aunt and uncle want me home as soon as possible." Aunt Mitzuki and Uncle Toby were waiting by the station door. "So... I'll try and make it to the next meeting."

Kouji smiled. "You're sticking with us?"

"I guess so. I thought it over, and figured it wasn't such a bad idea. See you around." Lexi gave him a quick hug goodbye, slipping his D-Scanner into his pocket. Then she walked back over to her family, and out the door. She threw one glance at him over her shoulder before the doors swung shut behind her. Their eyes met, and they shared a small smile.

Maybe this Legendary Warrior gig really wouldn't be so bad, after all.

* * *

Juan stared moodily at his bedroom ceiling. He supposed this was his own fault, bringing Mamà along. Padre seemed pretty cool about the Digital World, but Mamà was a completely different story.

A soft knock at the door. "Come in," he mumbled. He knew it wasn't Mamà, otherwise he would've shouted: 'Go away!' instead.

It was Padre. Juan sat up. To be honest, he still wasn't **completely** sure about Padre's opinion on today's developments. He **seemed** okay with it, but he hadn't said anything about it on the Trailmon, since Mamà had utterly refused to discuss that topic. Juan had no idea whose side Padre was really on.

Padre sat down on the edge of the bed. "I told your _madre_ I'd try and talk some sense into you," he said.

Juan scowled and flopped back down. So Padre was on Mamà's side. Figures.

"She thinks it's far too dangerous for a child to get involved with, and that it would be better if we just went on like it never happened. But I don't agree with her." Huh? He didn't? "You handled yourself amazingly well back there against that... what was that Digimon called again?"

"Apemon."

"And you aren't a child anymore. That's why I'm giving this back to you." Juan gasped when he realized Padre was holding out his D-Scanner.

"Seriously?" Just in case Padre was playing some kind of cruel trick, Juan took the precious device before it could be snatched away.

"_SI_. Just don't tell your _Mamà_, and watch yourself out there."

Juan grinned. "Thanks, _Padre_."

* * *

Gizamon trembled as he bowed low to the floor. The Master was **not** pleased, not pleased at all. He found himself wishing he was back in the forest, still trying to ditch the Legendary Warriors. "I'm sorry, Master," he begged, "The Legendary Warriors are strong! I couldn't keep 'em **all** off it, and those flunkies Lord Aremon gave me were no help."

A growl. "You puny, ungrateful little-" The shadowy figure on The Master's left started forward, but was stopped by a simple hand gesture from their all-powerful leader, who could easily wipe them out if he felt like it.

"Control yourself, Aremon," Lady Athemon snapped from The Master's other side, "Master, perhaps a new strategy is in order."

Silence. Then The Master spoke. _"Explain."_

"The Legendary Warriors **are** strong. Nine of them have each obtained a Spirit, and it is only a matter of time before the Warrior of Steel, the young one they call 'Shinya', does the same. Until then, he is the weak link. My suggestion is that we remove him before he and the others grow any stronger. Eliminate one, and the rest will swiftly follow."

"Yeah, that's what Lucemon thought when he took out the Warrior of Darkness," Aremon interrupted, "And look at what happened to him!"

"True, but I suggest a different approach. I assure you, Master, the boy's death will drive the Legendary Warriors to destroy each other from the inside!"

TO BE CONTINUED...

* * *

**Okay, here's the preview for Part 4: A Part of Something Bigger**

"_**So it is decided," Athemon stated, "The Legendary Warriors will go to the next known location of a Spirit. With any luck, one of the remaining new Spirits will be discovered nearby, and we can claim both."**_

"_**Decided?" that buffoon Aremon interrupted, "I don't remember The Master saying anything about that."**_

"_**He doesn't need to. The Master has much to take care of; he doesn't have the time to bother himself with details, so **__**I**__** am taking care of them. Now, as I was saying, the humans will no doubt be heading to Gotsumon Village next, to retrieve the Beast Spirit of Light. We shall arrive there ahead of them and search for it. When the humans arrive, they will split up to look for the newer Spirit on their own, and we shall strike and seize the Warrior of Steel. His D-Scanner will help in our search for the Spirits of Steel, and his disappearance and eventual death will break their team apart, starting with their leader."**_


End file.
